Football Confidential: Mariners star Andrew Hoole in strife for breaking drinking ban

Just when the Mariners thought their season couldn’t get any worse, Andrew Hoole’s latest performance has added to the pain – for the club and for him.

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Update: Just when the Mariners thought their season couldn’t get any worse, Andrew Hoole’s latest performance has added to the pain – for the club and for him.

Hoole is likely to be punished by Central Coast and has been dropped for this weekend’s game against Wellington after going out drinking with former Sydney FC winger David Carney, a couple of days after the coaching staff agreed a no-drinking policy with the Mariners squad.

Rather compounding the offence - and suggesting Hoole may have missed a trick in not pursuing a career in the NRL - Hoole then posted pictures of himself on social media, with drink in hand, at the races.

Andrew Hoole has been dropped for this weekend’s match against Wellington. Picture: AAP

Though there was no suggestion of actual misbehaviour, the Mariners hierarchy are said to be particularly upset given attempts by the coaching staff to enforce a focus on rescuing something from this season on the field.

To make matters worse, Hoole then called in sick from training for the next two days.

Coming a fortnight after captain Matt Simon called referee Stephen Lucas a “f...... dog”, it’s the last sort of cultural issue the Mariners need to deal with amid a season of carnage on the field.

Andrew Hoole (left) posted this picture on his Instagram page of him and David Carney at Randwick races.

The club sent Hoole a “show cause” letter on Thursday and wanted to fine him half a week’s wages, though it turns out they aren’t allowed to under the Code of Conduct.

When he reappears on the team sheet is anyone’s guess.

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SYDNEY FC might soon lose half their midfield engine. Word is the off-contract Josh Brillante has held off on signing a new deal in the hope of moving overseas as a free agent. Having come agonisingly close to going to the World Cup with the Socceroos, a move abroad to progress his career while also earning a decent pay cheque is believed to be the 25-year-old’s next priority.

Josh Brillante could be on the move from Sydney FC. Picture: AAP

The Sky Blues are understood to be supportive of the calculated risk and would re-sign Brillante if his agent Vince Grella can’t find the right fit, though would be more limited by what’s left in their salary-cap.

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A-LEAGUE entrants Western United have already landed one defender in Jonathan Aspropotamitis - now we hear Sydney FC centre-back Aaron Calver is heading there next after signing for next season. Calver has been eclipsed by Ben Warland in Sydney’s back four and will benefit from a move to get regular football.

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WHEN Ulsan Hyundai defender Park Joo-ho sat in an Asian Champions League pre-match press conference at Jubilee Stadium this week, not many Australian journalists there for Sydney FC would have known he and his daughter are reality TV stars in South Korea. A number of Korean footballers, including fellow international and former Middlesbrough striker Lee Dong Gook, are involved in ‘Return of the Superman’, in which celebrity dads are left to care of their kids alone for 48 hours while their wives relax. It’s popular too – an episode featuring Park and his little girl has more than 3 million views on YouTube.

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FORMER Sydney FC attacker Chris ‘Kiki’ Naumoff has made an emotional return to Spanish club Numancia, where he signed a three-year contract in 2016 only to be forced into retirement at 21 after doctors discovered a potentially fatal heart condition. Now 23, he last month visited the segunda division side, which has been hugely supportive of its would-be player, have put together a video of his story including interviews with Naumoff and the doctor who found the abnormality. “This is the first week I’ve been back since that moment two years ago, probably the most difficult moment of my life,” said Naumoff, who now coaches at Sydney Grammar School and runs his Kik Football business.

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WE have been asked to clarify that Jim Apostolovski, quoted in last week’s article on APIA Leichhardt attempting to renege on the contract of Howard Fondyke, is APIA chairman and not interim president.